📖 Meaning
A Buddhist term originally meaning to attain Buddhahood and become a founding patriarch of a lineage. By extension, it refers to achieving the highest level of mastery or outstanding accomplishment in any field, reaching a status where one is revered as an authority and pioneer.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom first appears in the Qing dynasty folk song anthology 《白雪遗音》 (White Snow Posthumous Melodies), in a piece titled '小尼姑' (The Little Nun), which questions the point of striving to become a Buddha or patriarch, citing the story of Chen Miaochang — a legendary nun who returned to secular life. Later, the Qing dynasty writer and drama theorist Li Yu (李渔, 1611–1680) used it in his influential work 《闲情偶寄》 (Casual Expressions of Idle Feeling), arguing that those who achieve mastery only through forced effort can at best bluff their way through a meal, but can never truly become a Buddha or patriarch in their art.
💡 Example Usage
他苦练书法四十年，终成佛作祖，开宗立派。
After forty years of rigorous calligraphy practice, he finally achieved supreme mastery, founding his own school and style.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 成佛作祖
- Pinyin: chéng fó zuò zǔ
- Literal Translation: become, Buddha, become, patriarch
- Category: Success
- Characters: 4